Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
'Please, conduct business as usual'
By Lee Hyo-sik
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and other business associations are calling on member companies to carry on with business as usual to help alleviate the adverse impact on the economy from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
FKI, a lobby that largely represents the interests of the country’s family controlled conglomerates, said Monday that it sent a notice to its 600 members asking them to run business activities while taking necessary precautions against the highly infectious, flu-like virus.
“To minimize negative effects of the MERS outbreak on the economy, we are asking our member firms to hold meetings, send employees abroad and conduct other activities as usual,” a FKI spokesman said. “Of course, we are encouraging companies to take all possible measures to prevent the spread of the MERS virus at their workplaces.”
Unlike many organizations that have canceled planned events over MERS fears, FKI plans to hold its scheduled gatherings at home and abroad.
For instance, it sent a business delegation to the United States last Friday and will organize a business forum there on Thursday. The association also plans to hold an annual forum inviting heads of its member companies to Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, on July 22-24.
In August, FKI will send a business delegation to China and hold a training session for middle school and high school teachers.
“The Korean economy may fall into an irrevocable slump if we fail to stop MERS fears from spreading,” the spokesman said. “If companies hold meetings and run other business events as initially scheduled, this will definitely help boost the overall economy.”
On June 11, FKI and four other business associations issued a joint statement pledging to carry out business activities as planned. They said in coordination with the government, they will encourage member firms to expand investment and hire more workers, and make more efforts to increase outbound shipments.
The four are the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Korea Employees Federation.
The associations also urged the National Assembly to pass several bills, which they say are to revitalize the economy, and called on the public to go on living normal lives.